Kōchikai
Kōchikai 宏池会 | |
|---|---|
| Leader | Fumio Kishida (last) |
| Founder | Hayato Ikeda |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Dissolved | 23 January 2024 |
| Ideology | Moderate conservatism Economic liberalism (Hayato Ikeda) Free-market liberalism (Before 1980s) Welfarism (From 1980s) |
| Political position | Centre-right[A] |
| Type | Liberal Democratic Party faction |
| Website | |
| kouchikai1957 | |
^ A: Centre-right in international context, but voters in Japan perceived the faction as Centrist. | |
Kōchikai (宏池会; "Broad Pond Society") was a leading faction within Japan's Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), founded by bureaucrat-turned-politician Hayato Ikeda in 1957. The faction has produced five prime ministers (Ikeda, Masayoshi Ōhira, Zenkō Suzuki, Kiichi Miyazawa, and Fumio Kishida), two LDP presidents (Yōhei Kōno and Sadakazu Tanigaki), and a large number of cabinet officeholders. The faction was officially dissolved on January 23, 2024 after Prime Minister Fumio Kishida pledged to dissolve the faction in the aftermath of a political funds scandal.